ATKINS / MAY PROJECT – Original Judas Priest vocalist Al Atkins and Christian guitarist Paul May joined Metal forces to form Atkins / May Project. A formidable Metal duo they are! Being a former founding member of Judas Priest and firmly staying in the Metal loop over the years, (5 solo albums & autobiography), Al Atkins has proven he has cemented his rightful place in Heavy Metal history; while convincingly staying true to Metal. Serpents Kissis as true as it gets here, my Metal brethren.

Al Atkins sings with sandpapered tones; these tones resonate a Metal toughness and blue-collar legitimacy to this man’s career. Al doesn’t sing over-the-top on Serpents Kiss, instead, he allows the music to be the driving force; while his tones set the table for a Traditional Metal ride. Al’s vocals are the muscle behind this album’s Metal.

Paul May is the finesse behind this album’s Metal. He is the main credited songwriter for Serpents Kiss, while being co-writer for Dream Maker, Signzand Judge. As both a songwriter and guitarist, Paul May is a five-star talent, to my ears. I liken Paul’s guitar tones to fall somewhere between these two legendary axe men: Phil Campbell of Motörhead and Ted Nugent. Don’t get me wrong, this guitarist plays with an exemplary feel and is as original as they come. Paul has a fabulous resume as a guitarist and he excels with delectable riffs, leads and solos; his melodies and rhythms are flat-out contagious.

(Photo Courtesy of Paul May)

Serpents Kiss has drawn me in and there’s not a boring moment to be heard. From start to finish, this album should satisfy any Traditional or Contemporary Metal hunger you may have. With a Metal atmosphere that is, for the most part, irresistibly retrospective, the consistency of quality never subsides on these ten songs.

Paul May does a grand job at combining the Metal feel of yesterday, with what Metal feels like today. One cover song is on Serpents Kiss: Cold Gin. This KISS/Ace Frehley classic is given its rightful respect by both Al and Paul. This cover of Cold Gin is heavier than the original and quite frankly is a Metal wallop.

My favorite song from Serpents Kiss? Honestly, that’s a tough question. This album is that good. The album opener The Shallowing sets the Metal tone from the onset; one that warned me Serpents Kiss had the potential to soar; and soar this album does! Betta Than Twistedis fortified with psyche-out Metal grooves; certainly a song that I cannot get enough of. The closing track, Theatre Of Fools, is an epic listen and one that thunder stamps an exclamation point on a grand Metal album.

If my Metal opinion was to ever count, I would strongly suggest to Al Atkins and Paul May to keep this Atkins / May Project moving forward! Songs such as these on Serpents Kiss are what Metal is all about: loud, proud, muscular and memorable. I’m very impressed. Atkins / May Project nailed it with a Metal war hammer, with Serpents Kiss.

* Atkins / May Project – Serpents Kiss was released back on November 15th, 2011, via gonzo Multimedia.

Ohio Metal titans SKELETONWITCH unveil their brand new video for “The Infernal Resurrection.” The song comes off latest album, Forever Abomination which cracked the Billboard Top 200, as well as Decibel’s Top 40 of 2011 and finds the band doing what they do best: slaying ears in the live arena. To view the video, head over to THIS LOCATION.

Like Satan himself set loose in the hallowed halls of Heavy Metal, these Athens-based headbangers careen wildly through the music’s history, gleefully destroying and setting flame to every genre along the way, only stopping at the forefront of today’s Metal scene to look back and watch that fucker burn — and then piss on the flames. No other band has tapped into the fire, fury, and frost of all things Metal like SKELETONWITCH.

Released last October through Prosthetic Records, Forever Abomination continues to raise eyebrows with its relentless, fuck-all attack. In an 8/10 rating of the record, Decibel Magazine named SKELETONWITCH, “one of the most likeable bands in Metal,” Terrorizer dubbed Forever Abomination a “masterclass in Modern Metal,” Revolver noted its “bad-ass Thrash attack,” while Pitchfork championed the offering calling it “exciting, skilled, fist-pumping, true-to-life stuff…”

SKELETONWITCH return to the road today beginning with a warm-up show in Cleveland before joining forces with The Black Dahlia Murder, Nile and labelmates Hour Of Penance for a four-week tour that concludes at the New England Metal And Hardcore Festival. This marks the group’s first North American tour action of 2012. The band will take a brief break before heading overseas for a stretch of Euro dates.

MY BLACK LIGHT – Italy’s My Black Light saw their debut album, Human Maze, released back on October 28th, 2011, via Massacre Records. One of many fantastic songs from this album, Inner World, is now a music video! Check out below for yourself, the engaging vocals of Monica Primo and the solid as steel musicianship of My Black Light. If you haven’t yet picked up Human Maze and fed it to your Metal starved ears, you’re missing out!

Hemoptysis guitarist and front man Masaki Murashita has done a series of nine demonstration videos for ProvidenceCables, all of which can be viewed at www.providence.jp. In addition to an introductory piece, a total of eight videos are included with Murashita discussing the original concepts, ideas, and the characteristics of each specific model.

English and Japanese language versions of the videos are available, the latter of which will be placed in music instrument stores nationwide in Japan this spring. Some of the acclaimed artists that have used the guitar cables include Carl Verheyen, Larry Carlton, Michael Landau, and Ramon Goose.

Hemoptysis is working in support of their latest album, Misanthropic Slaughter (produced by Grammy Award winning producer Ryan Greene). The band recently released a music video for the track “M.O.D.,” The video was shot in an abandon warehouse in Vail, AZ. Production and direction came courtesy of Sean Sinerius and Robert Jaime at Big Shot Studios. To check out the video for “M.O.D.” visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRy7sW7cxlU.

Legendary Alice Cooper Group Drummer and Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Neal Smith Unleashes his NEW Youtube Video of “Squeeze Like A Python” from his latest album “KillSmith Two”.

Click on the link below and listen to Neal Smith on vocals, drums and guitar! Neal Smith and his band flat-out: ROCK! Metal be thy name, Squeeze Like A Python is one Hard Rockin’, memorable, kick-ass classic of a song! The video is very cool itself, with some fine eye candy dancing around. Now that’s Rock ‘N Roll… whoa. – Stone

WEDNESDAY 13 – Yes, Wednesday 13 wears his Alice Cooper “badge of influence” on his sleeve. I find it admirable, thank you. Calling All Corpses is a Horror Punk/Metal album that Alice Cooper should have made last year without any billionaire producer pulling the strings. Instead, this is a Wednesday 13 album and he uses his ghoul-given talent and cool as hell band to deliver 13 horrifying songs of thump and stomp on CallingAll Corpses. These are songs that fans of Horror Metal, Horror Punk, Gothic and Hard Rock should easily get motivated to bounce up and down to, while kicking their neighbors trash cans over, under a moonlit sky.

Calling All Corpses is a party album. A crank-it-up-loud album. A “who gives a shit about the economy that our elected politicians screwed up” album. Wednesday 13 obviously realizes that Rock ‘N Roll was supposed to be (gasp) FUN in the first place and runs with it with infectious gusto. Wednesday 13 will never release an album to make you “think”, hell no. Wednesday 13 makes hard & heavy driven music to accommodate your escape from the stupid-ass stimuli that invades your space and day.

I appreciate Wednesday 13 for not trying to impress any Rock scholar out there who feels that the Rock history’s sun set and rose on 1969. The Punk fueled I Wanna Be Cremated and the hammerin’ Ghoul Of My Dreams may never get performed on any elitist Grammy stage, still, these songs have more substance than half of the audio sewage I suffered through, while listening to and watching that music comedy awards show.

It is not a ghastly move to buy Calling All Corpses and become absorbed by the Horror Punk/Metal and lyrics that spill from it. Calling All Corpses does not come across as cliché’, nor does this album ever drift off into repetitious content. If you’re looking for cliché’ and repetition, then watch a re-run of last Sunday’s Grammy Awards. This is a style of music born from good-times Rock ‘N Roll and it’s deserving of myMetal praise. Metal be thy name.

* Calling All Corpses was released on October 11, 2011, via DevCo Entertainment.